Ancient Literatures of the World

Humanities

Submitted to:

Mr. Erwin Ybernas

Submitted by:
Angelique B. Ramirez
BSN3-I

Epic of Gilgamesh
 A Sumerian Literature

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story about a Sumerian king (Gilgamesh) who seems to have lived
around 2500 BC, in Mesopotamia and built the great city of Uruk. Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third
human, is the greatest king on earth and the strongest super-human that ever existed; however, he is
young and oppresses his people harshly. The people call out to the sky-god Anu, the chief god of the city,
to help them. In response, Anu creates a wild man, Enkidu, out in the harsh and wild forests surrounding
Gilgamesh's lands. This brute, Enkidu, has the strength of dozens of wild animals; he is to serve as the
subhuman rival to the superhuman Gilgamesh. Enkidu was discovered running naked wildly in the forest
and was then fetched by a harlot from the city and seduce Enkidu to bring him into the city and be
introduced to civilization. During a feast in the city of Uruk, as was customary Gilgamesh would have the
first sexual intercourse with the first bride of the month in the city but opposing this tradition, Enkidu blocks
the way of Gilgamesh and starts a fight with him. Though Enkidu lost but with that incident he was able to
create a friendship with Gilgamesh.

Both Enkidu and Gilgamesh gradually weaken and grow lazy living in the city, so Gilgamesh
proposes a great adventure: they are to journey to the great Cedar Forest in southern Iran and cut down all
the cedar trees. To do this, they will need to kill the Guardian of the Cedar Forest, the great demon,
Humbaba the Terrible. Enkidu, knowing about the great strength of Humbaba opposes the plan of
Gilgamesh, even the elders of city stop Gilgamesh from undertaking the journey. To protect themselves
throughout the journey, Gilgamesh prayed to the god Shamash to protect them, with the help of the gods,
Enkidu and Gilgamesh defeated the monster Humbaba and Gilgamesh gained fame throughout the whole
kingdom. Due to his fame, the god Ishtar fell in love with Gilgamesh and asked him to be his lover, but the
cruel person that he is, Gilgamesh refused and even insulted Ishtar. With her anger, Ishtar asked the help
of her father, the Sun god Anu to release the Bull of Heaven and kill Gilgamesh. The bull was then sent to
the city of Uruk and devastated the citizens then Enkidu and Gilgamesh worked together to kill the bull and
Enkidu also killed the god Ishtar. Days after the battle, Enkidu fell ill and was then known that he was
cursed for killing Humbaba, the Bull of Heaven and the god Ishtar. Enkidu died and this left Gilgamesh sad
and weary for he realized that he could not live forever. To be immortal he needs to set out on a journey to
find the only mortals granted eternal life by the Gods, Utnapishtim and his wife. Utnapishtim was the great
king of the world before the gods decided to wipe out all humans with a great flood. He was able to survive
because a god helped him by telling him to build a big boat and stay in there until the great flood stops.

Knowing all these information, Gilgamesh sets out to find Utnapishtim. After a perilous and hard
journey Gilgamesh was able to find Utnapishtim and was advised death is a necessary fact because of the
will of the gods; all human effort is only temporary, not permanent. Still, Gilgamesh was so persistent and
asked for a chance, he was given two chances, the first chance, Gilgamesh should stay awake for six days
and seven nights but Gilgamesh was not able to do this thus he was not granted immortality. But
Utnapishtim’s wife was merciful and gave him another chance, also in this undertaking Gilgamesh failed. In
the end, Gilgamesh returned to his city, marveling at its grandeur and greatness.

Impression/Comments:
 The epic of Gilgamesh is nicely written which conveys a lot of life lessons and stories to learn from.
It is nice to know that the tablet in which it was written survived and was translated for the new generation
to be able to read it. This story combines both the lessons on friendship, being good to others and the
importance of life in one. The epic of Gilgamesh tells us a lesson about being contented about what we
have in life. It doesn’t take immortality for us to really appreciate life, it’s not about the length of stay we
have here on earth but what matters is how we lived it and enjoyed it with the people that matters to us. It
also tells us to treat people right and not to use or abuse our power in treating others. It also shows that us
that friendship can change someone in so many ways, though Gilgamesh was very rude at first but when
he made friends with Enkidu he realized that what he did were bad things and he should start treating
people right. Also, the story of Utnapishtim and his wife and how they survived the great flood that
killed/wiped out the civilization was so much like the story of the Arc of Noah in the bible.

The epic of Gilgamesh was nicely written, with lessons to learn and though there quiet some
violence in it, it was done simply to teach us a lesson. Gilgamesh was quiet a nice read and there were
lessons to learn. In the end, Gilgamesh learned that simply we have to be contented with the life that we
have and not cling in to immortality to enjoy life.

Odyssey
 A Greek Literature

The Odyssey is a story about the journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca after he left Troy for a military
mission. He was held captive in the island of Calypso for seven years and couldn’t go home since
Poseidon, the god of the sea was angry at him. Back in Ithaka, Odysseus’s wife Penelope is getting
swarmed by a horde of unwanted suitors. Odysseus and Penelope's son, Telemachos, gets visited by the
goddess Athena. She tells him to go in search of news of his missing father. Telemachos learns from
Menelaos that Odysseus is alive.

Up on Mount Olympos, the goddess Athena asks her father, Zeus, the King of the gods, to have
mercy on Odysseus and force Kalpyso to release him. Zeus grants Athena’s wish and Odysseus sails off
to his city. Unfortunately, Poseidon whips up some storms, and instead of getting home, Odysseus washes
ashore in the land of the Phaiakians. Fortunately, the princess of Phaiakians sees Odysseus washed up on
the shore and takes him home to the kingdom to meet the King and Queen. A feast was conjured for
Odysseus and in return for their hospitality, Odysseus tells them everything that’s happened to him since
the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus left Troy with a ship of his Ithakan men. Several storm-tossed days
later, they landed on the island of the Lotus-eaters. Then they came to the land of the Cyclopses and was
able to escape.  Next, Odysseus and his men came to the island of Aiolos, god of the wind. He helped
Odysseus out by putting all the winds – except for the west-bound breeze they needed – into a nice little
bag but disaster happened and the bag was opened, blowing Odysseus and his men to another island, the
island of Circe. They also met Sirens along the journey and two horrible female monsters who ate most of
his men. Not long in their journey, everyone died in a storm except for Odysseus and he ended up in the
island of Calypso.

After hearing the Odysseus story, the Phaiakians were so moved by his suffering that they load
him up with treasure and ferry him back to Ithaka. Once Odysseus gets home, Athene disguises him as a
beggar so he can scope out the situation. Odysseus then recruits the assistance of the swineherd who puts
him up for the night. When Telemachos gets back, Odysseus reveals himself to his son. Then Odysseus
heads to the palace, still disguised as a beggar. Without revealing his true identity, he talks to Penelope
and tries to convince her that Odysseus is on his way home. At a certain point, Penelope, offers the suitors
a test. The deal is, all the men have to try to string a bow and shoot it through the heads of twelve axes.
Many suitors try and fail then Odysseus asks for a chance to try. He succeeds, drops the disguise, and,
with the help of Telemachos and others kills all the suitors in a massive and bloody slaughter. Then
Odysseus reunites with his wife.  The next morning, Odysseus leaves the palace, reunites with his father
Laertes, while an assembly is going on to avenge the death of the suitors. Odysseus together with
Telemachus prepares to fight but just then Athena appears and Athena tells the contending parties to live
together in peace down through the years to come

Impression/Comments:
 The adventures of Odysseus in the Odyssey, talks about love, life, gods , war and humans rolled
into one. Though it may be hard to believe that gods like the ones in Mount Olympus really existed but it
sure is nice to know that they help humans in quite some ways to at least relieve them of their burdens. On
the surface simply the story of Odysseus's adventures after the fall of Troy, it is a rich tapestry of places,
characters, and creatures which have entered into the basic language of Western literature. Also, I’ve
learned from reading the Odyssey that at those times Greek people were so hospital that they present you
with a great feast and presents upon your arrival to a new kingdom. What I really liked about the story are
the adventures of Odyssey from his war in Troy, it was so nice to read about and you can’t believe he was
able to go through such things, but then, that is fiction.Also, I like how Odysseus’s son Telemachus still
believes that his father is alive and continues to search for him. Also, Odysseus and Penelope’s love for
each other was so nice that they endured not seeing each other for at least seven years or more.

All in all, the Odyssey is a nice read, it’s full of adventure, love and family, though the theme is
focused on unbelievable adventures and gods but still the adventures were nicely described that you’ll have
fun reading it.